KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – First the Miami Hurricanes found themselves trailing Rutgers going into the fourth quarter. Then they were passed in the writers’ poll by Oklahoma. Then Ohio State leapfrogged them in the BCS ratings.

The Tennessee Volunteers hope to bring their A+ game today when they host the ‘Canes at Neyland Stadium, which will be painted orange by the 110,000 fans who sing Rocky Top in their sleep.

Tennessee, which lost at home to Florida and Alabama and at Georgia, has long since lost any shot at the national championship. Even an SEC title is out of the question. But the season can be salvaged by ending the nation’s longest win streak at 30 games.

“It’s the chance of a lifetime,” said Tennessee defensive back Julian Battle of Florida.

Miami has been living on the edge this season. The run defense has been awful. The Hurricanes have committed just as many turnovers (17) as they’ve caused. In last week’s 42-17 win at Rutgers, the ‘Canes, who trailed 17-14 entering the fourth period, committed 13 penalties for 120 yards.

“I’m sitting on the bench at the end of the third quarter and I’m thinking to myself, ‘We’re losing to Rutgers,’ ” said UM center Brett Romberg. “I’ve never been so furious in my life.”

Coach Larry Coker, usually quick to smile and quicker to find the bright side, knows the 8-0 record and the 25-point win over the Scarlet Knights is a cover. He brought in a head linesman to oversee practice this week.

“There’s no doubt about it . . . you’re living on the edge,” Coker said. “When you do that, everything has to fall into place. If you have something that doesn’t go right, say you have a turnover or something that doesn’t go right, then you’re not going to win those games.”

The coaches clearly believe a loss may be coming. So do the computers. Only the ‘Canes continue to believe in themselves. This is when they traditionally have been the most dangerous.

But one wonders if the ‘Canes have grown so accustomed to winning they believe it’s a fate accompli and have lost the edge needed to play four quarters against a quality team. If they don’t do that today, the national championship will be decided by other teams.

“We have a chip on our shoulder because we feel like nobody is respecting us,” said Sikes. “After the Florida game, everybody was saying we’re the next coming, we’re the best thing since sliced bread. And now we’re not good for anything because we won by 25 (against Rutgers).”

“We definitely feel like we’re not getting any respect, and we’re going to have to take it back, continued Sikes. “And when we take it back, we don’t want the people to jump back on [the bandwagon] and say, ‘Well, Miami this, Miami that.’ No, stay off and we’ll do just fine.”